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Since the launch of the Nintendo Switch back in March, not many games have come out that has made this purchase feel more than just a fantastic system in which to play Legend of Zelda. There have been a few games that has made me want to pick this system back up, but not many that have drawn me in and made me want to invest hours out of my day. Since we have to wait till October to play the next big title, Nintendo has been parterning with third party studios in order to give us something to make the wait a little more barable. In comes a game that was orginally built for IOS and Andriod called Implosion: Never Lose Hope.

Now I know what you are thinking; lets face it, I was thinking the same thing. Cell phone games are great for when you are just sitting on a bus or if you have a couple of minutes to kill, but a cell phone game that is ported to a consle already looks shady. Because I was looking for something to take up some time while on a three hour car ride, I took a chance on this $12 game and have had a blast ever since.

Implosion is a hack and slash style RPG that has resently come out for the Nintendo Switch. The story takes place in the future when humanity no longer can call Earth home due to an alien race known as the XADA. The XADA have nearly wipped out the entire human race and those who were lucky to escape now hide in space. you play as a soldier named Jake who pilots unmaned machine known as “Avalon”. This machine was created through a program called “War Mech 3” and is now our last hope for survival. Ok…so the story may sound pretty cheesey and forgetable, but it’s actually enjoyable once you sit down and play the game. The voice acting is much better then expected and you can actually feel different emotions between the different characters as you discover what has happend to your home.

Implosion’s story is a top down hack and slash based around linear missions that require you to travel from the beginning to the end while killing all the bad guys in your way. The levels lack certain flair and imagination however, due to the fact that you are either traveling from room to room in an under ground bunker, protecting an area from a monster invasion, or moving across different landscapes. Though the variation between the areas are lacking, it makes tracking down hidden rooms or finding collectables pretty easy. You will start to notice the hidden corners or random doors pretty easily once you have seen the same area over and over again.

Each mission will have optional requirements for you to complete in order to gain badges. These badges will help you to unlock better upgrades for your Avalon as well as grant you new mechs and additional story missions. I found myself replaying the same mission at least twice in order to make sure that I completed the special task. Some of the tasks would require you to perform feats like:

do not use a single health item

destroy all of the containers

do not get knocked down

do not restart

use only ranged weapons

I really wanted to play with the new Mech called “Crimson”. However, once I earned enough badges to play as it, I had an attachment with Avalon and I wanted to make it even more powerful.

As you progress through the story, you will pick up augmentations that will allow you to swap out existing upgrades and tailor your playing style. If you want to be almost invincible, but spend all of your time fighting just one person at a time, then you can spec your machine to have higher endurance. If you are quick with your rolls and you feel like you cant be touched, then find and equip augments that maximize your strength. Good luck if that is your choice. These enemies can be freaking jerks.

You will fight everything from mutants to zombies to mutant zombies. The game will start you out with the training wheels as you fight enemies that will rarely fight back and will eventually just let you go and wish you all the best. Eventually you will have to go toe to toe with giant beasts, up-armored mechs, and some very familiar looking aliens that make you think that Ridley Scott is about to make some phone calls. Most of the enemies will have a pattern that you can exploit, others will just be so fast or have so much health that you will need to come to the realization that you are going to get hurt. This isn’t much of an issue due to the fact that you will basically have six lives for each mission. If you go down, you can revive right where you are and pick right up with full health and shields. This makes the game much more enjoyable to finish, but will be maddening when you have to complete a mission without dying.

At the end of each area, you will have a boss level in which you will have to fight a pretty challenging and pretty awesome looking monster. They each have some type of move set that will require you to think on your feet and ultimately exploit in order to beat them. The boss battles are really where this game shines. During the battle, you will be able to listen to some great battle songs that make you feel immersed in the battle and that much more enjoyable.

For $12, you really can’t beat it. Its the type of game that you can enjoy when you have a few hours to kill and you want to try something different. Though the level design and enemies are pretty repetitive, you will still have a pretty fun time mixing different augmentations and mastering different combat aspects.

I have been on the fence about picking this one up, so I found your review and had to check it out!

From what you describe, this sounds like something I would enjoy. I’ve been looking for a good hack n slash (seriously a dying breed evidently..) – is this in the same vein as Diablo with a loot system? Or is killing enemies just the manner by which you get to the boss? Curious to see some gameplay, but for $12 this a very low risk so I might just pull the trigger.

It’s sorta kinda like Diablo in the sense that some enemies do drop random power ups. Now you don’t have the option of swapping out new armor or your primary weapons. You’re pretty much killing things on the way to the levels boss, but there are some minor puzzles that need to be solved at times. They are not overly challenging and often require you to find a key that a bad guy is holding.
I’m glad you liked the review and it’s honestly not a bad game for $12.